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December’s Upcoming Game Releases
Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, Portable/Mobile, PSP, Release Dates, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Looking for some new games to spend your hard-earned money on? Well you’re in luck! What follows is a list of games that will be hitting retail shops between now and the end of 2005.
This Week:
Final Fantasy IV Advanced - GBA
Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku I & II - GBA
Chaos Field - GCN
Gauntlet Seven Sorrows - Xbox/PS2
Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play - PSP
Next Week:
Pocket Dogs - GBA
Samurai Showdown V - Xbox
Dead or Alive 4 - Xbox 360
Aside from Dead or Alive 4, it looks like there isn’t anything too excited due out for the rest of the year. Furthermore, will Dead or Alive 4 even come out this year? It’s slated to ship on December 21st, but it wouldn’t be that surprising if it were delayed again.
Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play could turn out to be a keeper, but we’ll hold judgment on it for now. And finally what the heck is Pocket Dogs? Dare it be a Nintendogs rip-off?
A Review Of 2005 Game Hardware News
Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Next Generation published an article earlier today that does a good job summarizing what the big three have been up to this year regarding hardware. The article mentions everything from PS2’s $149 fixed price to the Xbox 360’s launch shortages. And naturally, the article also includes talk of Nintendo’s Revolution controller.
While the article doesn’t feature any new content, it’s certainly interesting to look back and see what Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft were up to this year. Reading about what unfolded at this year’s E3 does bring back some fond memories but in all honesty, it just makes us anticipate E3 ‘06 that much more.
Read More 
| Next Generation
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According to IGN, Nintendo’s Revolution is set to release “during the week of Thanksgiving 2006” in America. While Nintendo remains silent regarding an official release date for its upcoming console, several anonymous developers have leaked the mentioned date that Nintendo divulged to them. While this news may not be extremely shocking, considering that Nintendo is widely known for delaying its products (see Twilight Princess,) it confirms that the Xbox 360, and possibly the PS3, will have been released considerably earlier.
Will a Thanksgiving 2006 launch be a huge setback to Nintendo? The Revolution will arguably represent a fundamental change to the industry with it’s unique controller, but is a another year of waiting just too much? Or could the Revolution turn out to be next Christmas’ Tickle Me Elmo, as the Xbox 360 is turning out to be this year?
The next year will certainly be an exciting one - with a huge E3 in May - so be sure to stay tuned. In the meantime, brace yourselves for the next-gen console war, it’s going to be brutal.
Read More | IGN
Latest Gear Live Videos
A few days ago, Nielsen and Activision released results of a study measuring the effectiveness of in-game ads. Based on the study, most gamers openly welcomed advertising in videogame because it increases videogame realism. While videogame publishers currently do accept in-game advertising, fees they make are nominal. If you’ve played a recent Tony Hawk or True Crime game, you can probably recall ads in the game. Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland features everything from in-game billboard ads to company logos to slap onto your skateboard.
The study’s results are certainly pertinent today considering how much time 18-34 year old males spend playing videogame. With less and less people watching television - and even less paying attention to commercials - marketers need to find different ways of reaching consumers. So if gamers currently feel that in-game ads increase a game’s realism, why shouldn’t marketers increase the type of advertising? Most certainly, game publishers’ will be able to charge advertisers more based upon the results of this study. And with the extra revenue, publishers would hopefully lower game prices - which would be extremely welcome, especially considering the current $60 next-gen games.
Read More | GameDaily
Stainless Steel Playing Cards
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Design, Home Entertainment, Misc. Tech,
You know, there are some items that you can expect will just be relegated to the famous and the uber-collectors as far as ownership is concerned. Case in point, these stainless steel playing cards. The card designs are etched into the metal, and arrive at your door in sheets of metal rather than in a deck of cards. The sheets can be displayed on a wall, which would be great for a poker room, or you can press the cards out of the metal sheet which will leave you with a $313.95 USD deck of standard-sized playing cards.
(Thanks, munkyxtc!)
Read More | Steel Cards Product Page
So, we are giving away stuff this year in our 2005 Holiday Gift Guide, and we are pretty excited about it. We are adding new ideas and giveaway items on a regular basis, through Christmas. We have over $450 worth in prizes up for grabs so far, including:
- SCOTTeVEST Rodeo Technology Enabled Jacket ($199 USD)
- SLEEPTRACKER Wake-Up Watch ($149 USD)
- CanaryWireless Digital Hotspotter ($59 USD)
- Motorized UMD Disc Cleaner ($29 USD)
- Antec FanPal ($20 USD)
Look for more items to be added shortly. If you are interested in winning, head on over to the contest thread on our message board.
Read More | Holiday Gift & Giveaway Guide 2005
So, we are giving away stuff this year in our 2005 Holiday Gift Guide, and we are pretty excited about it. We are adding new ideas and giveaway items on a regular basis, through Christmas. We have over $450 worth in prizes up for grabs so far, including:
- SCOTTeVEST Rodeo Technology Enabled Jacket ($199 USD)
- SLEEPTRACKER Wake-Up Watch ($149 USD)
- CanaryWireless Digital Hotspotter ($59 USD)
- Motorized UMD Disc Cleaner ($29 USD)
- Antec FanPal ($20 USD)
Look for more items to be added shortly. If you are interested in winning, head on over to the contest thread on our message board.
Read More | Holiday Gift & Giveaway Guide 2005
Over at the TeamXbox Forums, someone put together a tutorial on how to improve the Perfect Dark Zero play experience for those who just can’t get away from playing the game like Halo 2:
I’ve seen that I wasn’t one having problems with aiming in PDZ, theres been at least 2-3 threads a day popping up about the aiming system, with even more negative responses in it, some people even say they hate the game because of it. Most people adjust the sensitivity and give up when they still can’t aim, I’ve experimented and experimented and found settings that make the game much easier to play, and when it’s easier, of course it’s more fun.
If you set your profile up like this, you’ll notice you get way more headshot kills, and kills period.
Profile Options > Controls
Basics:
* Control Style: Standard
* Auto Aim Style: On or Off, doesn’t make much of a difference, in this game if the small crosshair is over an opponent, the shot is going to hit.
* Sensitivity: 75-100 seem to be the best.
* Invert Y: Up to you.
The most important part:* X/Y Sensitivity: Off - Most console FPS have Y Slower than X as default, but in PDZ they decided to make it so the X and Y axis are the same speed, it may sound silly, but this makes a HUGE difference when changed.
* Y Sensitivity: 45-60 - The Higher your X is, adjust it appropriatly with the Y. This is where you’ll be getting more headshots.
* Fast Look: OFF - Fast Look is a stupid feature. Basically when you push your analog stick all the way in ANY direction, it will spin you around in less than a second, making precise aiming almost impossible.
Optional:Options > Game Setup
* Camera Bob: Off, Camera Bob is annoying to me, but it won’t really affect your aiming too much.
After I changed these options, this game is almost as fluid as Halo now, the only thing I can’t fix is the Zoom Sensitivity.
Read More | TeamXbox
SCOTTeVEST Rodeo TEC Jacket Review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Wearables, Features, Product Reviews,
The SCOTTeVEST Rodeo is yet another in the 4.0 line from our favorite gadget clothing company. We have been testing out the rodeo for the past couple of weeks, and have found it to be as versatile as it is functional. It has 39 pockets of various shapes and sizes for all your gear, and has a microsuede finish. Check out the full review after the jump.
Click to continue reading SCOTTeVEST Rodeo TEC Jacket Review
Calling Out Major Nelson: Xbox 360 Supports MP3 But Not Divx?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Music, Software, Video Games,
Any Xbox fanatic knows of Major Nelson (also known as the mild mannered Larry Hryb,) the cool Xbox Live employee who manages a blog and pod
blogcast show. Recently, he let everyone know that we shouldn’t expect Divx support from the Xbox 360 using the Media Center Extender function - ever. Why? Well, he eludes to the fact that there has not yet been one commercial DVD release in Divx format, and therefore, there is no reason to support it on the Xbox 360. He went on to say that Divx is primarily used as a method to “back up” DVDs, and Microsoft doesn’t want to get into any hot water on that front.
We have a much different stance on this issue…
Click to continue reading Calling Out Major Nelson: Xbox 360 Supports MP3 But Not Divx?
